These four stories about people who rallied around the flag and decided to volunteer during the war remind us all what this nation is made of
Eyal Dahan: "I couldn't stay in the US while my sons are fighting Hamas"
Operation Iron Swords personally touched Jewish-American businessman Eyal Dahan, whose two sons are combat fighters in Israel.
N. (20) serves in the Israel Border Police, and D. (21) is a reservist in the paratroopers. "I couldn't stay behind in the US while my two sons are fighting against Hamas," he says in a conversation with Israel Hayom.
Video: Children's playground used by terrorists in Gaza / Credit: X/@IDF
In Israel, Dahan intends to donate a large sum of money that he raised for the wounded in the IDF and the families of the evacuees. Before I came to Israel I arranged 600 combat kits, containing clothing and other vital items. I raised a large amount of money from my friends and my synagogue, but I wanted to personally see where the money was going," he says.
Even before arriving, Dahan and his friends also sent donations for purchasing ceramic body armor, helmets, protective eye gear, towels, hygiene products, and toys for children, amounting to approximately $600,000. In addition, Dahan arrived in Israel with $350,000 in cash.
"I declared this amount of money at customs in the US and customs in Israel, and I brought it into the country. I am using it to give to the wounded in the IDF, as well as to the families whose entire lives have been upended. In addition to the money, I have recruited six Jewish day schools in the US, where the children draw pictures and write greetings to the IDF soldiers. I go visit the wounded and give each of them an envelope with greetings from the children, and an amount ranging from $500 to $1,000. I also go around the hotels and other sites to which the families of Gaza border communities were evacuated. There, I also distribute money to help the families," he says.
So far, Dahan and his friends have visited evacuees in Yerucham, the Dead Sea hotels, the Shefayim Hotel, and Petach Tikva. They also visited Soroka, Barzilai, Assaf Harofeh, Sheba, Ichilov, and Hadassah hospitals.
By: Assaf Golan
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Faiz, a high school student from Hurfeish, provides free haircuts to reservists
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Faiz Ghadaban, a high school student from Hurfeish, voluntarily cuts the hair of reservists who were recruited to the northern region. His older brother Salman (28) serves in the Golani Brigade and is fighting in the south.
Ghadaban (16), an 11th-grade student in the Druze village of Hurfeish, saw how much support and love his older brother Salman, who is serving in the south, received, and decided that he also wanted to contribute. He only recently finished a haircutting course and decided to go cut reservists' hair. "I heard from my uncle that there are soldiers in our area who want a haircut, and I told him – don't look any further, I'm ready to do it. I went to the bases with my hair clipper and equipment, and cut their hair," Faiz said.
These days the Ministry of Education is encouraging students to engage in social involvement, and decided that Faiz's volunteering will count as hours of social involvement [part of a student's matriculation requirements].
Salman Ghadaban, Faiz's older brother, is serving in the standing army's 13th Golani Battalion. During the Oct. 7 attack on the border, he was on standby at the brigade's base. Salman married and the father of a one-month-old baby, woke up Saturday morning to a rocket warning Red Alert. When he and his friends identified terrorists entering the outpost – he fired at them from his personal gun and protected female soldiers who were in the outpost.
During the battle, he even made sure that the terrorists did not kidnap any soldiers' bodies, took a military weapon from a soldier who was killed, and fought for hours.
"For two days we didn't know what had happened to him," says Fakher, the father of Faiz and Salman. "We didn't believe he was alive until we spoke to him. We were worried for hours. Since then, he has also managed to visit us. We are a family that serves in the IDF and does our part. We have soldiers and officers in our family. My two sons make us very proud these days."
By Noam (Dabul) Dvir
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The mission: to return to a normal life
Students from the Gaza border communities were evacuated to hotels and guest houses throughout the country. The problem is that there are not enough classrooms to help students who have been displaced from their homes.
The Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center administration, the Ministry of Education, and the Sdot Negev Regional Council have turned the Yad Vashem's International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem into a school for elementary and high school students, and many of Yad Vashem's teaching staff come to teach there. The goal is to provide the students staying in the Jerusalem area with a program that will allow them to continue their routine and restore their mental resilience.
In order to prepare for opening the schools, the building underwent dedicated renovations to give the students a pleasant welcome. During the school day, students will receive personal learning kits, required equipment, and meals.
"I joined the efforts because I thought that providing a daily framework and social interactions for adolescents was paramount," says Ariel Nachmias, who on regular days works as a department head at the school, and now as a second-grade teacher.
"We really see the change in the children – they are calmer and more confident in these surroundings that allow them to share their feelings and hear others. Even though this is not their normal routine, they feel safe. Here we see a smile, there a conversation or a cry; but when we are there for them and do everything we can for them – it strengthens everyone on all sides."
According to Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan: "At a time when we are experiencing one of the most severe crises in the history of Israel, everyone is doing whatever they can to help. We are happy to open Yad Vashem to the border communities' students, and try to get them back, even if only partially, onto some stable routine."
By: Noam (Dabul) Dvir
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They came to teach English; instead, they teach Zionism
The Israel Program for Excellence in English which offers assistance to elementary school students from far-flung communities in learning English, grants scholarships to Jewish teachers who come to Israel for a period of one year and integrate into schools in the country. Many of the teachers stay and immigrate to Israel, and some have even found love here.
At the beginning of the school year, dozens of teachers arrived in Israel, and found themselves in the midst of a war. But instead of returning to their country or sitting at home – many of them decided to volunteer and help on the Israeli home front. The teachers decided to take part in helping to accommodate 15,000 students in Eilat, and also provide emotional support and recreational activities for the children.
Sarah, from Detroit, says: "With the outbreak of the war, we realized that there was a need to collect donations, and I became a sort of one-woman project connecting people from my community with the soldiers. Every day I take the money and go buy them food, warm clothes, and care packages. On the way we met several pharmacists in Jerusalem who helped us collect medicine for the soldiers. The war is scary. I am experiencing a lot of feelings I didn't know before, but the togetherness of the community and everyone's contribution continues to lift my spirits."
Donia Preston from Pennsylvania says: "When the war started, we realized that there were many evacuees who were taken to Eilat. I thought of a way in which we could assist and support them. In one of my conversations with the evacuees, a girl talked about how she missed feeling beautiful. The first idea that came to my mind was to offer to have her nails done. We took on the task of making everyone feel beautiful. We came and gave the girls and women beauty treatments, and along the way also practiced some English. Who knew that doing something so small could be so rewarding? It made me feel like I brought some light into the world."
By: Noam (Dabul) Dvir
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